Chris Golightly: "This is not fair; I don't know what to do"

When the American Idol machine starts moving, nobody gets to stand in the way.

Not even one of the semifinalists.

Chris Golightly is learning that lesson the hard way this week.

"This is not fair; I don't know what to do," he said when reached by phone this morning.

Chris originally made Season 9's Top 24 -- he was even shown in the group shot with Ryan Seacrest near the end of Wednesday's show. But when the 12 male semifinalists were shown individually, Chris had been replaced by Tim Urban.

"Everything was fine when I made the Top 24," Chris says. But things quickly went sour. Shortly after Chris got the news that he'd made the cut, he says a former manager named Lawrence Franklin emailed 19 Entertainment claiming that Chris was under a recording contract.

Chris says he then received an email on behalf of the show, saying that he would be disqualified if, indeed, he was under contract. Chris says he then called Lawrence Franklin, reminding him that his contract had ended the month before he'd auditioned for Idol.

Within a day or two, Chris got another phone call, this one from American Idol supervising producer Patrick Lynn, telling him that he had been disqualified.

That same day, however, Chris says he and the Idol producers got another email from Franklin, this one saying that there had been a mix-up and that Chris had been released from his contract before he'd auditioned.

Unfortunately for Chris, by that point, Tim Urban had been notified, and the Idol producers had moved too far along to reverse course.

Chris says an Idol attorney called him last night and told him he his ouster took place because he hadn't been forthcoming about his contract. "But I went and looked this morning," Chris says, "and I said, no, I was not in a contract. If he's trying to say that's what it was about, they're covering their a**."

Fox released a statement on the matter late Wednesday: "It has been determined that Chris Golightly is ineligible to continue in the competition. 'American Idol' contestant Tim Urban has replaced Golightly as part of the Top 24."

Chris, who grew up in orphanages and foster homes, made a great first impression with audiences during his audition episode, when he sang Ben E. King's Stand By Me. His curly blond hair earned him comparisons to Season 1 runner-up Justin Guarini.

Chris said he'd had a great Hollywood experience. "The second day of Hollywood Week, they were all like Chris, Chris, Chris," he says. "The third day, they're not allowed to say anything, because that's our final performance, but they were smiling and clapping and pointing, like, yeah, that's him, you know?

"Then, when our room got to stay, Ellen pointed at me, with approval, [as if to say] good job. And when I made Top 24, Randy said, 'Chris, I'm sorry to say this, but you made it to the Top 24.' And I was the last one in the Top 24."

At this point, Chris is so clearly overwhelmed and upset by the situation, he doesn't even know who to be angry with. "Lawrence apologized to everybody, and I respect him for that." And he says he's not currently looking at legal action.

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About Brian Mansfield

Nashville-based Brian Mansfield began writing about music for USA TODAY in 1997 and took over Idol Chatter just before the start of Season 8. He co-authored Make Me a Star: Industry Insiders Reveal How to Make It in Music, and while he has never auditioned for American Idol, he did sing Boot Scootin' Boogie at Disney World's American Idol Experience the day the attraction opened (he lost). More about Brian | E-mail Brian